Education
Ph.D. Sociology, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2018
M.A. Political and International Studies, Rhodes University, 2010
B.A. Sociology and History, Gettysburg College, 2008
About Stephanie
Stephanie Bonnes is the Oskar Schindler Humanities Endowed Associate Professor of
Criminal Justice & Criminology at the University of New Haven. Her research is qualitative
and broadly focuses on gender the intersections of victimization, identity, inequality,
violence, and organizations. Her book Hardship Duty: Women’s Experiences with Sexual Harassment, Sexual Assault, and Discrimination
in the U.S. Military, focuses on the puzzle of how sexual abuse remains highly prevalent in an organization
that has dynamic policies, prevention strategies, and evolving education programs
designed to combat sexual violence. Drawing primarily on in-depth interviews with
fifty servicewomen, Hardship Duty uncovers how masculinity and misogyny are entangled in the organization’s structure,
policies, values, physical spaces, and culture in ways that create sexual abuse vulnerability.
Her scholarship on military harassment and sexual violence has won awards from the
Sociologists for Women in Society, the Sex and Gender Section and the Peace, War,
and Social Conflict Section at the American Sociological Association, The Victimology
Section at the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, The Crime & Justice Division
at the Society for the Study of Social Problems, as well as the Division of Feminist
Criminology and the Division of Victimology at the American Society of Criminology.
Her work has been published in American Sociological Review, Gender & Society, Feminist Criminology, and Violence Against Women as well as media outlets such as the Washington Post. In 2026, she was recognized as a Harry Frank Guggenheim Distinguished Scholar.
Her work has been funded by the American Council of Learned Societies, the American Political Science Association, and The Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation.
Personal Website: www.stephaniembonnes.com
Research Interests
Gender, Military, Organizations, Qualitative Methods, Sexual Violence, Victimization, Workplace Harassment
Publications
Book
Bonnes, Stephanie. 2024. Hardship Duty: Women’s Experiences with Sexual Harassment, Sexual Assault, and Discrimination in the U.S. Military. New York: Oxford University Press.
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles (Student co-authors italicized)
Bonnes, Stephanie. 2026. The Need for a Sexual Safety Framework: Deployment-Related Sexual Violence
Against U.S. Servicewomen and Implications for the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda. Current Sociology 74(4): 488-517.
Leah Danson, Bonnes, Stephanie, Jacquelyn Burckley. 2026. “‘We just can't prove our burden, under these circumstances:” Judge Advocate
Perspectives on Consent and Alcohol-Involved Sexual Assault Cases.” Armed Forces and Society.
Tosto, Samantha and Stephanie Bonnes. 2026. “She clearly thought that something bad had happened to her:” How military lawyers construct narratives
of victim legitimacy and perceived harm in sexual assault cases.” Armed Forces and Society 52(2): 695-713.
Bonnes, Stephanie. 2025. “Sacrificing the Feminine to Fit In and Embracing the Feminine to Stand Out: Servicewomen’s
Response to the Essentialist Gendered Practices of the U.S. Military.” Journal of Femininities vol. 2, no. 1: 1-35.
Bonnes, Stephanie, Kylie McCarthy, and Samantha Tosto. 2025. “‘My coping doesn't really matter:’ How Military Lawyers Navigate Vicarious
Trauma through Emotional Labor and Emotion Work.” Feminist Criminology vol. 20, no. 2: 103-131.
Webermann, Aliya, Stephanie Bonnes, Sonia Rupcic, Ryan Holiday, Lindsey Monteith, Marc I Rosen, Galinda Portnoy, and
Maureen Murdoch. 2025. “‘A Lot of Gray’: Ambiguity, Beliefs, and Discretion Impacting
Veterans Affairs Military Sexual Trauma Disability Claims.” Journal of Clinical Psychology.
Bonnes, Stephanie and Samantha Tosto. 2023. “Prosecuting Military Sexual Assault: The Entanglement of Military Discourse
and Victim Stereotypes in Prosecutor Case Strategies.” Feminist Criminology vol. 18, no. 5: 459-489.
Bonnes, Stephanie. 2022. “Femininity Anchors: Heterosexual relationships and pregnancy as sites of harassment
for U.S. Servicewomen.” American Sociological Review vol. 87, no. 4: 618-643.
Bonnes, Stephanie and Jeffrey Palmer. 2022. “The U.S. Marine Corps’ Response to Intimate Partner Sexual Violence: An Analysis of
The Family Advocacy Program and the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Program.”
Armed Forces & Society vol. 48, no. 3: 609-633.
Bonnes, Stephanie. 2021. “An Intersectional Approach to Military Sexual Violence.” Sociology Compass vol. 15, no. 12.
Bonnes, Stephanie. 2020. “Service-women’s responses to Sexual Harassment: The Importance of Identity
Work and Masculinity in a Gendered Organization” Violence Against Women vol. 26, no. 12-13: 1656-1680.
Bonnes, Stephanie. 2017. “The Bureaucratic Harassment of U.S. Servicewomen.” Gender & Society vol. 31, no. 6: 804-829.
Bonnes, Stephanie and Janet Jacobs. 2017. “Gendered Representations of Apartheid: The Women’s Jail
Museum at Constitution Hill.” Museum & Society vol. 15, no. 2: 153-170.
Bonnes, Stephanie. 2016. “Power Differentials Among Married Couples in Malawi as Predictors for Likelihood
of Physical and Emotional Intimate Partner Violence.” Violence and Victims vol. 31, no. 1: 51-70.
Bonnes, Stephanie. 2013. “Gender and Racial Stereotyping in Rape Coverage: An Analysis of Rape Coverage
in a South African Newspaper, Grocott’s Mail.” Feminist Media Studies, vol. 13, no. 2: 208-227.
Selected Media Commentaries
Maag, Christopher. 2025. “The Story of Sexual Abuse, Bribery, and Suicide that Shocked a Small Town.” New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/15/nyregion/soudani-rosenwasser-corruption-abuse.html *quoted
Bonnes, Stephanie. 2020. “What Can Stop Sexual Harassment in the U.S. military?” The Monkey Cage at The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/07/13/what-can-stop-sexual-harassment-us-military
Bonnes, Stephanie. 2018. "How Bureaucracy can Help Maintain Sexism and Inequality in the U.S. Military." London School of Economics American Politics and Policy Blog. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/2018/09/25/how-bureaucracy-can-help-maintain-sexism-and-inequality-in-the-us-military/
Bonnes, Stephanie. 2017. "The Bureaucratic Harassment of U.S. Servicewomen" Gender & Society Blog: https://gendersociety.wordpress.com/2017/12/07/the-bureaucratic-harassment-of-u-s-servicewomen/
Bonnes, Stephanie. 2017. "Sexual Harassment, Bureaucracy, and Discretionary Power in the U.S. Military." Work in Progress Blog: https://workinprogress.oowsection.org/2017/12/13/sexual-harassment-bureaucracy-and-discretionary-power-in-the-us-military/
Honors and Awards
- 2024 American Society of Criminology’s Division of Victimology’s Activist of the Year Award
- 2024 American Sociological Association’s Sex and Gender Section Feminist Scholar-Activist Award
- 2024 Society for the Study of Social Problems Crime and Justice Division Scholarly Achievement Award
- 2024 Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Victimology Section New Scholar Award
- 2024 Wilmington Friends School Young Alumna of the Year
- 2023 American Society of Criminology Division of Feminist Criminology’s CoraMae Richey Mann “Inconvenient Woman of the Year”
- 2023 Rosabeth Moss Kanter Award for Excellence in Work-Family Research, Top 10 List
- 2023 Honorable Mention: American Sociological Association’s Peace, War, and Social Conflict Section’s Outstanding Article of the Year Award
- 2020 SAGE Teaching Innovation Award
- 2018 American Sociological Association’s Sex and Gender Section Sally Hacker Graduate Student Paper Award
- 2017 American Society of Criminology’s Division on Women and Crime Graduate Scholar Award
- 2017 American Society of Criminology’s Division of Victimology’s Graduate Student Paper of the Year Award
- 2017 Betsy Moen Mathiot “Walk the Talk” Award
- 2016 Sociologists for Women in Society's Cheryl Allyn Miller Early Career Award
- 2015 Ralph and Barbara Dakin Award, for outstanding scholarship that contributes to peace, inter-cultural understanding, resolution of conflict, and/or amelioration of important social problems
Grants
- 2026 Harry Frank Guggenheim Distinguished Scholar Award
- 2025 American Council of Learned Societies, Project Development Grant
- 2023 American Political Science Association Centennial Center Grant
- 2021 MSU Exploratory Research Pilot grant (Co-PI with Dr. Jennifer Pace)
- 2020 MSU Exploratory Research Pilot grant (Co-PI with Dr. Jennifer Pace)
- 2015 American Society of Criminology's Division on Women and Crime Larry J. Siegel Fellowship